MARGAO
With Wednesday being the last day to file nomination papers for the elections to the post of Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson of Cuncolim Municipal Council, the BJP-backed group of councillors have decided to field candidates for the two posts.
Newly-elected BJP-backed councillor and brother-in-law of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Videsh Desai, informed that the group will field Vishal Desai for the post of Chairperson.
Videsh claimed that the BJP-backed councillors presently have the support of five councillors and hence decided to contest the election for the two posts.
The decision by the BJP-backed candidates to contest election for the post of Chairperson and Vice-chairperson assumes significance and comes against the backdrop of the decision by the 9-member Congress-backed group to field three-time councillor Prof Laximan Naik and Anthony Vaz for the post of Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson respectively.
The Congress camp has kept the nine newly-elected councillors in a Margao-based hotel, apparently to avoid any poaching bid.
In the 14-member body, the Congress camp is sitting pretty with nine members, indicating that it has the adequate numbers to form the council. The decision by the BJP group to field Vishal Desai for the post of Chairperson has only thrown up a question how the group will muster the support of three more members to form the council. All eyes are now focused on the filing of nomination papers for the two posts till 12 noon.
